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‘First Decade’ Library Wines Released

18 October 2017

Royal Tokaji release rare 'First decade' Library Wines

Royal Tokaji are releasing 1,746 bottles (375ml) of their first decade library wines through wine merchants in their major markets around the world: UK, USA, Taiwan, China and Germany. This unique release is a part of Royal Tokaji's history and can never be repeated. It includes 5 and 6 puttonyos wines together with single vineyard wines from our Betsek, Birsalmás, Szt Tamás and Nyulászó vineyards. In the UK Farr Vintners and Berry Bros. & Rudd are releasing Royal Tokaji "First Decade" offers to customers.

Early this year Royal Tokaji's winemaking team and General Manager, Zoltán Kovács, went into the Library section of our cellars, where they have always been stored, to properly assess all our Aszú wines from 1990-1999, our First Decade. Every single bottle was opened and tasted. Each perfect bottle was saved and rebottled at our winery under new corks, around 15% of the bottles were rejected.

Royal Tokaji's "First Decade" represents a significant part of the history of our legendary region and company, in liquid form.

In 1999 Nyulászó 1993 was served at the Windsor Castle state banquet held in honour of Mr. Árpad Göencz, President of the Republic of Hungary paired with a Soufflé Glacé aux Framboises. Hugh Johnson attended this splendid occasion and described Nyulászó 1993 as,"The quintessence of Hungarian culture and tradition: sinfully rich, vivid with fruit flavours, as long as the Danube and as lively as Liszt".

From the 1950's until 1990 control of all wine production in the region was in the hands of the State. Quality was sacrificed in the interest of volumes and the deep understanding of the complexities of the unique Aszú winemaking process was lost.

Hugh Johnson had visited the region while writing the first edition of his World Atlas of Wine. He had long considered it an "unpolished gem" which had fallen from its former prominence. At the first opportunity in 1990, he brought together a group of private investors and local small-holders to form Royal Tokaji.

Together these "First Decade" wines tell the story of Royal Tokaji's first steps on a journey to revive the great wines of Tokaji.